'Alan Turing's Royal pardon is long overdue'

Computer scientist and author Dr Sue Black explains why Alan Turing was one of
the most important figures of the twentieth century

9:48AM GMT 24 Dec 2013

Alan Turing, the World War Two codebreaker who later killed himself after receiving a criminal conviction for his homosexuality, has been granted a Royal pardonby the Queen.

Dr Turing, who helped Britain to win World War II, killed himself after receiving the conviction in 1952.

He has now been granted a pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy after a high-profile campaign supported by tens of thousands of people including Professor Stephen Hawking.

Dr Turing, a "genius" mathematician, was a codebreaker at Bletchley Park, where he invented the machine which cracked the Enigma codes used by German U-boats in the Atlantic. Historians believe his work may have shortened the war by two years.

However, despite the importance of his work Dr Turing was convicted of gross indecency for having a relationship with a 19-year-old man.